Happy New Year: Extended Interview with Lisa Henson 🎉
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Season 2: Episode 52 Description
Ten News Gets Extra: 🕵️ We're kicking off 2022 with Lisa Henson, the CEO of The Jim Henson Company. Our correspondent Sarah Namias gets the inside scoop on one of our favorite Apple TV Plus originals, 'Harriet the Spy.' 📅 Did you know that coming up later in 2022, we’ll have a true TWOSday? And, test your world clock knowledge on today's Trivia on the Ten. ✅
Sources:
Doggie desserts: Ben & Jerry's enters the pet food business | AP News
Scientists Discover Fossil Of A Whale With Four Legs : NPR
Twosday? Will 2/22/2022 Really Fall on a Tuesday? | Snopes.com
New Year's Trivia 2022 (timeanddate.com)
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TRANSCRIPT:
Bethany Van Delft 0:05
Happy New Year. Get out your noisemakers, we are kicking off 2022 with a fresh look at a classic story and animals in the news. I'm Bethany Van Delft. It's Saturday, January 1st, 2022. And this is our first episode of the year and no ordinary episode of the Ten News. This is The Ten News Gets Extra.
Various Voices 0:32
10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 2, 1.
Bethany Van Delft 0:41
I think we can all agree it's been a weird year. As we kick off a new year, here are a few animal stories that had us scratching our heads. In early 2021, Ben and Jerry introduced an exciting new line of ice cream for dogs. The product is known as Doggy Desserts, and is available in two flavors, pumpkin with cookies and peanut butter with pretzels who knew? Back in August, scientists in Egypt discovered the fossil of an ancient whale that had four legs. No way these walking whales roamed the earth some 43,000 years ago and were amphibious, which means they could survive both on land and in the water. And where the weather is warm this time of year in Brazil, a 700-pound cow at a cattle ranch escaped and made its way to a nearby waterpark, where a viral video shows it trying to make its way down a waterslide cool the slide had a weight limit of 450 pounds. So the cow was totally breaking the rules. Naughty cow. Did you know that coming up later in 2022 we will have a true TWOSday? February 22, 2022, is a Tuesday to 2222. Wow. Should we do something special for this once-in-a-lifetime Tuesday? That's T W O's day? Let us know. Email us at hello@thetennews.com or leave us a voicemail at 877-TEN-NEWS that's 877 T E N E W S. Did you have some extra TV time over the holidays? Maybe you got to check out Apple TV Plus' original Harriet the Spy. This update on the classic is spy-tactic and our correspondent Sarah Namias got the chance to sit down with Lisa Henson. Yes, that Lisa Henson, the CEO of the Jim Henson Company about bringing Harriet to a new generation.
Sarah Namias 3:03
Hi, Lisa, welcome to the Ten News. Thank you so much for taking the time out of what I imagine is a very busy schedule to join us today. We're so excited to chat with you.
Lisa Henson 3:15
I'm excited to be here wearing my Harriet the Spy sweatshirt, which happens to be kind of Christmasy as well.
Sarah Namias 3:21
So, you are the chief executive officer of the Jim Henson Company. And that sounds like a pretty big role. So could you tell us a little bit about your company and what you do in your role as CEO?
Lisa Henson 3:33
Thank you. Well, the Jim Henson Company is the company that my father Jim Henson started. So we're most famous for doing productions that have puppets. We have a Creature Shop. But we also have been producing quite a bit of animation and other types of family programming. My job as the CEO is that I'm the Business head of the company, but I also function as kind of the head of production. And I get very involved with certain of the shows, perhaps not all the shows, but many of them. I have a lot of personal involvement in leading those programs.
Sarah Namias 4:07
Amazing. So you bring up your father, and for maybe our young younger listeners who don't know your dad is Jim Henson, and he created all the iconic Muppet characters that we've all come to know and love. from Sesame Street to Fraggle Rock and beyond. Is it important for you to kind of preserve your father's legacy? And how do the projects that you work on reflect that
Lisa Henson 4:30
preserving his legacy is almost the number one objective of the company he has a legacy of tremendous creativity. So not only did he create those Muppets, the famous ones that everyone knows, but he also was a technological innovator. He was constantly trying new things. So one of the things that we consider part of his legacy is doing new things. So where he never made a Harriet the Spy show himself. We still feel that if That's a creatively exciting project that is in itself part of his legacy because he loved to try new things. He was a real kind of a restless person. He loved what he was doing, but he always wanted to do something else at the same time. So we similarly like to try a lot of new things creatively.
Sarah Namias 5:19
So your latest project is an amazing new animated series called Harriet the Spy, which is streaming now on Apple Plus, right, with more episodes set to roll out in the spring of 2022. Do we have that right?
Lisa Henson 5:31
Yeah, there are five episodes streaming now. And each time that New episodes come, it will be five more episodes. Great.
Sarah Namias 5:39
So this is the first animated adaptation of the classic novel by the same name. So can you tell us about the history of Harriet the Spy and what inspired you to bring this classic character to a new generation?
Lisa Henson 5:50
The Harriet, the spy book is so popular in schools, and I think many kids read it, I hope if you're listening to this show that you will read it too because it's a fantastic book. And it was actually a book that was very unique in its day because writers were not writing for kids of that age. They were young, like little kids’ books, and then there were adult books. So what we now think of like a huge, huge business of books for kids that are eight to 12 years old, those books weren't even really being written. And they certainly weren't being written about real kids, like kids that have real kid personalities, real issues, and go through kids’ adventures that are realistic. So this is a very different book from what kids might have been reading at the time if they were reading the adventures of Narnia, you know, something very fantastical. This was like, you know, Harry, it could be you. And that became a big genre. I think most people in recent years have known Harriet the Spy from the movie, which was a very terming movie, and Rosie O'Donnell was fantastic. But it didn't have entirely the feel of the books. So we were looking at the book, I would say book and books because there was a book and that the very famous book, and then there were some somewhat less famous sequels. But the book has a very special style. It was written in the early 60s, it is in a period that isn't exactly like today. So we wanted to animate the show, have the characters look a little bit more like the characters as they were drawn in the books, but also create that period, New York City in 1964 was a very exciting time. And it didn't look exactly like today, you know, so we had a lot of fun with making it look like 1964, New York while also being exciting and fun animation for kids today. So I think it feels a little bit like today and that the show itself is modern and fun, and very, very funny. But also stylishly, it has like a lovely style, maybe what you don't see all the time in today's animation,
Sarah Namias 7:59
you definitely achieve that. I mean, the show is beautiful, and it's fun. And I was watching it with my seven-year-old daughter, and which brought up a really great moment in my house, which is she was mentioning it to my mother, her grandmother, and my mom chimed in. I love Harriet the Spy, you know, she knew it from when she was young. And so it was so cool just to see this bridging of the generations with my daughter, and what you've done to be able to span that. So I think that's really cool.
Lisa Henson 8:27
It's interesting that you said that about generations, because the very heart of Harriet the Spy, is this lovely friendship that is so fresh and real. And it's a friendship that is intergenerational because Harriet's best friend in the world is her nanny. Ole Golly. And they are so tight, and they are so wonderful with each other. And you know, she does have a good relationship with her parents, but they're not friends in the same way that she's friends with her nanny and that, you know, that friendship is so authentic. And I think that a lot of kids can really relate to having an adult that understands them better than their own parents do. In this case, it's also Jane Lynch who plays Ole Golly, it's Beanie Feldstein. Who plays Harriet the Spy. They were so charming together, you almost like feel like, oh, they'd be just as friendly like that in the real world.
Sarah Namias 9:21
Yeah, you do feel that and I feel like kids need that right now. You know, there's a disconnect, maybe. And I think that it brings out something that everyone can relate to, in a certain way. Maybe already answered this a little but the world is a very different place now than it was when the book was first published. Tell me a little bit about the process of the animation. Do I assume the animators worked closely based on the original book to achieve what the look is today?
Lisa Henson 9:46
Well, we start with a writers room. And so the writers wanted to use a lot of the good material from the book, but we also were making 20 half hours so there isn't quite enough material in the book for today. It’s only a half-hour, so they also created brand new, original episodes. So it's a mixture of some stories that are from the book. And some stories that are just inspired by the book like what would these characters do? You know, some of it is like just extrapolating the writers really getting into the vibe of these characters and understanding them from the inside out and then going, well, what would they what could they have done besides what we see happen in the book, of course, we also cover all the major events of the book as well.
Sarah Namias 10:30
What do you hope kids will love about and connect with in the series?
Lisa Henson 10:34
Harriet's personality is just absolutely unique. And it's why the book is such a classic is that she has a voice, and she has a voice that she's developing as a writer, because one of the most important things about Harriet, the spy is that she's actually not a spy, she's a writer. And the reason she spies on people is that she's trying to get material, and she wants to understand the world so that she can write about it. So that voice, which is so authentic, is so strong in the book. And we worked really hard to maintain that in the series so that you will like her as a character because she's uniquely herself. And she also encourages other people to be uniquely themselves. So we hope that when people watch the show, and when kids watch the show that they will get excited about expressing their own individuality, their own identity, and learning about themselves. Because one of the things that are really challenging for Harriet is that she is very verbal. And she can write cleverly about a lot of things, but she isn't initially clever about herself. So she makes mistakes, emotional mistakes, communication mistakes,, she suffers a little bit with how kids treat her because she hasn't been thinking about how she communicates. And so you see her learn. And ultimately, the most important subject that she writes about is herself.
Sarah Namias 12:02
As a storyteller yourself, kind of what do you personally love about Harriet and her friends?
Lisa Henson 12:08
Well, I love the spirit of rebellion both in the book and in the series, like she is quite rebellious and not mean, you know, she just really wants to stand up for what she thinks is right. And there are some hilarious scenes, where, for instance, in our second episode, where she's told by one of the main girls in school, that she shouldn't wear the coat that she just bought that she loves. And she just doesn't think that's right. She doesn't think it's right to be bullied into not wearing her brand-new coat. It's because the other girl has the same code. And she just goes to great, great lengths to make her point. And I love that she's very strong, very outspoken. And if the system doesn't seem fair to her, she will say something about it. I love that too.
Sarah Namias 12:56
Pivoting a little bit. What advice would you give our listeners who may have dreams of someday working in TV or film or enjoy storytelling in any form?
Lisa Henson 13:04
Oh my gosh, well start writing. One of the things that she's always encouraged to do in this series and in the book is just to keep writing, like keep filling notebooks, just keep that exercise going. Like if you want to be a filmmaker, start shooting things, even if it's on your phone. You know, if you want to be a musician, then just start playing even if it's badly like, I think sometimes people intellectualize it and think how will I get to do that thing or who will give me my chance? And the most important thing just goes for it and try it yourself. You know, you're going to be your best rocket fuel.
Sarah Namias 13:40
Amazing advice. Amazing. It's been so much fun talking to you. Thank you so much.
Lisa Henson 13:45
Thank you for having me. I hope people watch Harriet the Spy.
Bethany Van Delft 13:50
And if you're looking for more from the Jim Henson Company, a new version of Fraggle Rock is premiering this month on Apple TV plus, down in Fraggle Rock. Can't wait. Up next, it's time for…
Various Voices 14:07
What, what, what's the big idea? Trivia on the Ten. People all over the world rang in the new year last night. Because the new year begins at midnight in each timezone people celebrated at a slightly different time depending on where they are in the world. But how many timezones are there in the world? Is it a) 24? b) 38 or c) 48?
Bethany Van Delft 14:45
Did you guess it? The answer is B. There are 38 time zones in the world so 38 different New Year’s every year. And since the earth spun ever so slightly faster. This year 2021 ended a millisecond earlier than usual. That's incredible. However, you celebrated I hope 2022 is a great year for all of us. Time is up. But before we go, here's a quick note for the grownups. Thank you for listening to the Ten News. Look out for our new episodes on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and extras on Saturdays. The Ten News is a coproduction of Small But Mighty Media and Next Chapter Podcasts and is distributed by iHeartRadio. The Ten News creative team is watching the waterpark video and includes Tracey Crooks, Tessa Flannery, Pete Musto, Adam Barnard, and Nathalie Alonso. Our production director is Jeremiah Tittle and our executive producers are Donald Albright and show creator Tracy Leeds Kaplan. I'm Bethany Van Delft and thanks for listening to the Ten News. Happy New Year to you. Happy New Year to you. Happy New Year dear Ten'ers, Happy New Year to you, and many more.
